Chance at the Majors Intermission

(OOC: This thread is for Players wanting to post IC, FREE FORM action between jobs for Chance at the Majors. Nothing posted here will directly affect characters - Karma gain/loss, gain of enemies/contacts, acquisition/loss of gear, etc.

I reserve the right to draw upon any posts made here to affect IC content of the main story arc, which can lead to in game affects on characters.

Posts are not to be made here except in-between story arc chapters. Posts may refer back to story arc material, but players should refrain from embellishing too much as it could lead to splintering story arcs.

OOC posts should be indicated as such and made here, no additional OOC thread will be provided.

IF a player wishes to RP out his attempts to acquisition gear/train skills here, that is acceptable. But any such training/gear acquisition must be pre-approved. )

Catalina Debriefing, and two weeks off

Catalina got through the debriefing with minimum difficulty. She answered most of the questions honestly one or two stuck out in her mind... The first was "At anytime did you compromise your cover?" she hesitated to answer, she was not sure... They asked her again "At any point did you willingly, or unwittingly compromise your cover...?" She looked at the man strait in his eyes and answered "No I doubt that.. At no time did i deviate from the given profile, in fact they gave me a name, to use during mission that was for use in mission communications its all in the COM link i asked for it, as they all had handles i thought it would be appropriate... sir..." The second was "How do you feel about the team you were placed with..?" Again she paused, and she was berated for not answering "Catalina you must be truthful... Now How do you feel about the team you were placed with...?" She looked away, and thought for an instant, then looked back to The doctor who administrated the mental prodding "They were nice" she thought about the offers to hang out, but she answered "They were new, as was I, and although they just met, they were an efficient team. They got the Job done... There maybe an issue with the Park camera footage of the mission, as the hacker did not have the needed time to erase things, its all in the COM..." she ended. The doctor stared at her momentarily, It was a good answer, but he wondered about it... He wondered why she gave a performance assessment instead of answering him directly about the way she felt he jotted something down on his electronic clip board and said "Thank you Catalina you have been very helpful, Congratulations on your first mission success... Now clean yourself up, Angelo has requested that you meet him in the garage in about twenty minutes... You are dismissed..."

Later that night Catalina enjoyed her night of dancing with Angelo, in her new Vashon Island: Synergist High Collar Shirt, an skirt Angelo had brought her, he was a great Dancer, and though she was not the best, she was agile enough, and intuitive enough to keep up... She did not really like dancing, and she figured Angelo knew that... But what else was there four 19 year old girls to do? He was a wonderful instructor, and a great partner, he was trying to let her be a nineteen year old, and she liked the gesture of being treated human... But while she did not show it ballroom dancing was kind of not her thing...

When she Got back to the Agency compound proper again, she hopped out of Angelo's Italian Sports Car thanked him curtly, a smile from ear to ear. Then she flew up the stairs and into the dorm rooms... And woke her roommate Hilda "what is it do we have a mission, Surprise training!" Hilda responded in surprise! Hilda was cybernetic, and kinda twitchy sometimes... "No no no! nothing like that" She reassured Hilda for all intents and purposes Hilda her room mate was like a little sister too her some how if that could be the proper term for someone that close, "But the mission debriefing is over I did it Hilda I think Angelo is happy... I think?" she continued, and Hilda's face lit up... "See told you I'm sure he's very happy to have a Fratilo that can do missions without his direct supervision, Sooo tell me what happened what happen?" "Well" She said "They were not like the shadowrunners we've been taught about they were nice somehow I guess friendly, would be the word... Well except for Joker... But he even turned out to be ok i guess..." she let the last part trail baiting her friend. "Was Joker cute what could he do?" Hilda asked, Catalina thought for a moment "He was a shoot first ask questions later type, I would not say cute but not ugly as a Troll... He had big guns on his shoulder, and He stood up too two spirits, and some twin female Orcs enforcers, it was very exciting, I uh? i killed a Ganger that was trying to hurt people for no real reason other then to do it... I think..." Hilda had yet to have a mission(still in training) and it was so important to her... She wondered how it would feel, and she asked Catalina "How did it feel to KIA(Kill in action) a live target...?" Catalina answered almost immediately "Not sure so much was going on i hardly noticed besides i got to kiss one of the runners a guy..." "REALLY!" Hilda jumped up now very excited and interested... "Was... was he a good kisser?" she asked trying to vicariously live through her roommates experience "Nah was not like that. Really just supposed to look like it was, I kept it professional like..." Catalina patted herself on the back. "Besides he smoked a lot of cigarettes, you could smell them on him, But well I guess it was nice, he kissed me back on the cheek, and he asked me out, after I saved him from a wizzing baseball, I think it was nice." This time the immediate response came from Hilda "Wow! asked you out, you saved him from a baseball! Details i need details girl..." Catalina smiled ill tell you all about it... and the two talked threw the night...

The next day Angelo Woke her up, and Marcus(Hilda's big brother/Handler) came for Hilda.. It was early, and since the two had stayed up they were a little groggy, but stood up at attention as the two male Fratilo walked in, Catalina hopping out of the bunk bed, and standing at attention right next too Hilda "Breakfast for the two of you, with the other girls in ten minutes, then Fire arms practice, after that you both are scheduled for hand to hand practice today with Sensei Izan(could not think of a name lol) So go over the list of things he's offering now, and pick what you want to learn, you will work with him over the next week or so, or until he feels you've adequately improved... After that its infiltration and breach tactics, as well as search and rescue theory, and application" Marcus told them and finished with "Angelo have you anything to add?" Angelo looked to Catalina and spoke "At the end of the training day you me, and your violin have a two hour lesson. eh?" "Yes sir" she answered. The two men turned to leave on the way out Marcus said to Catalina "Oh yeah Catalina I Heard from Angelo you aced your first Mission, solo at that! Congrats! Hey rub some of that skill off on Hilda, her training phase is almost up and she'll be doing missions with me soon... Give her a pointer or two for me wont you?" Catalina Curtsied saying "Thank you Agent Marcus and i will give her all that i know freely..." Then the two left... Angelo stopping to regard the two girls who were still standing at attention... "As you were" he said and they relaxed, and went about getting ready for breakfast...

The next few weeks were spent in Heavy training Angelo let Catalina know that this success entitled her to no ease of training... The training only got more intense, and She learned to counter attack after parrying in hand to hand combat... She accepted the unspoken challenge too her ability... Because she knew one day there would be more missions, she had a job to do, and she aimed to do it to the best of her ability! She would make Angelo proud to be her Big Brother... But inside she wondered would she ever see them again... The team she had been apart of was still in her mind everyday, she wondered did they call, did they even try to get to her... She figured those kinds of questions would probably never be answered, and she had no real reason to ask but it tugged at her... It was not like they were part of the agency, and for the Female Fratilo in section nine, that was all there was training and missions...

Then two weeks later...?

Removed. As it did not properly reflect what SmokenD did during the 2 week intermission. A new post will be placed by this (Sunday) evening.

At the end of the wall watching run Teckster saw the old man wave at him he gave a bow to the old timer and decided to walk over. As you got to the old man he handed over two more rolled smokes Here you go. I figure you where more of an aid to me then a liability so I think for your actions you won yourself a couple more free smokes. The two didn't really talk much since Teckster had to drive to the after run party so he said his good byes and went on his way.

After the night out with the gang Teckster decided to make a trip by Blain's Tailsmonger store. As Teckster walked into the store you could smell sandalwood, the ork mage always burnt the stuff. Walking down a row of jarred oils and rare ingredents from a wide range of animals and plants Teckster came to the main counter with good old Blain standing behind it. Blain on seeing Teckster decided to ask. "So it you. Seems like you have gotten bigger then that small runt I thought a few tricks of the trade to. Teckster shook his head. "Sure I might be bigger but it seems to me that you are still have quite a few pounds on me. Laughing at the comment Blain adds "Well you never where big for your age and if only to could get away from sitting down a playing crazy games on your link you love so much you might be able to get stronger. Now Teckster let out a bit of a chuckle. "Well old man I think you might be right, but as for right now I think I can put down my link so I can call forth a spirit for some aid. I know I didn't pay attention very well when you told me about spirits but I think I might be able to pull off a small binding even with wasting all my time on the link like you use to bug me about. Blain's eyes grow a bit as he sees what his young small student has come by for. "Oh so this is not just a talk to old Blain trip then you are hear from some magical items are we. Well I'm glade to hear that business is slow in these parts and local traffic is not the best. I've had to spend my time working on a few things in the backroom to sell to other shops inorder to keep on top of the bills. So little fellow what are we looking for. Teckster scratches at his chin "Well if I remember correctly since the spirit I want is a man and not to powerful I'll need.... A multi colored chalk for man, dipped in your special oil mixture. Also 5 sticks of mint incense. 7 candles with the silver laced into it. And what was the rest......." Shaking his head Blain adds You forgot about the 4 element corners, you have your fire and air you need the dirt and water. Your in luck little fellow I have what you need. I know I use to show you a thing or two in magic but I have to pay bills so the whole cost is 1,500 nuyen. Sorry to have to lighten your cred stick but times are hard down hear. Teckster pulls out his newly made funds and hands them over. At least Blain never asks for a SIN and License for this stuff. I might have to pay full price but that is one way our neighborhood looks after each other. Sure if I pushed it I could of used an IOU but not when I still have nuyen in my pocket. "Here you go Blain. Good thing I'm binding a little spirit like my self or I wouldn't have the nuyen for it.Blain grabs the creds and laughs "Those Bigger spirits need a bit more material to lock on to yourself, but since you had your head in your Link when I tried to teach you this stuff I think if you go much bigger then this one you might have me running to help banish the thing after it knocks you out. Teckster and Blain laugh a bit, fallowed by a conversation about the neighborhood. After the passing of words Teckster heads back to his apartment to summon and bind his soon to be little ally. (See OOC for how it went.)

After his summoning and binding Teckster moved on to his hacking. Well I've been so wrapped up in hacking ability I forgot the importance of electronic warfare side of the hack best I get working on that and maybe spend sometime in my Programming Suite trying to get a bit more out of my Stealth program. HAHAHA They will never see me coming. Well when the thing is done anyway. Oh ya and if I get to do another run I best get a nice gift for my fellow runners. With his plan in mind Teckster passes time first going over the basics of electronic warfare then copying his analyze program into his main agent. This took most of his week until he has his meeting with SmokenD.

Teckster gets to Greasy Ben's in oder to talk to SmokenD. Smashing his smoke out in his pocket ashtray his walks in to see that SmokenD beat him here. Teckster walks over to his table and give a bow. Seems like you beat me here. I got a few gifts for you but first. Teckster Flags a waitress and places his order. A Gin and tonic fine lady. Thank you. with the order sent it was back to the runners meeting. You do know I have a few extra goodies if you want also I made a brain system that I'm giving to everyone in on the run to help keep ears from hearing us so easily. With that said he opens an encrypted link to SmokenD's comm and first sends over the requested programs and an agent loaded with attack armor and analyze scripted to scan the persons comm link and if any unwanted visitors showed up it would alert the own of the comm and drop the analyze and go all out with attack and armor. After the link and programs where given to SmokenD he gives a list of other programs he had waiting if wanted. So what do you think need anything else.



----After Greasy Ben's------
After the meet Teckster dives into his programing suite to try and start to hammer out a stealth program to help him keep his hacks hidden. This thing is going to take some time not sure how long but best get started on the thing now or I'll never get around to it. Teckster spends the rest of his time program his Stealth.

She had snug out. Again. Elaine was sleeping in her room. It seems she has had a long and stressful run. "Even better." Siona whispered under her breath and headed out. Dantes held a ladies night.

In the taxi, she thought back at her first run. I don't know how, but we did it. And everyone survived. Siona giggled at that. Maybe Seattle wasn't that bad. Her team had worked together quite well. Even the humans. Siona wondered what KillerCat was doing. She's so shy. Siona giggled again. I really should teach her a few things.

She called up KCs com number and called with her comlink. A few moments later, a voice answered: "Yes?" It was a womans voice, but certainly not KillerCats. "Hi. This is Raèn. Where is Ki... erm... Katrina?"

"She is not here."

"Well... where is she?" Siona asked dumbfounnded.

"Katrina is on vacation. With her brother on the east coast. I don't know when she'll be back. Sorry." Just when Siona drew breath to ask for Cats com number, the other side had cancelled the connection. How rude! Typically human. She thought annoyed. Stupid KillerCat for not telling me. She's missing out on some good fun. Something about the story knocked on her minds back door. But for tonight, she was determined to keep it shut with the help of the good old green fairy. And with todays outcome, she could afford the non synthehol version. "Tonight is going to be real fun."

SmokenD – Intermission

Even with all the sake he’d consumed after the run he had trouble getting to sleep, his mind and body still too jazzed with his first real run to rest. So he lays smoking in bed and playing the memories of the day over in his head again. As usual he also starts picking apart the whole thing looking for ways to have done it better, or done more. Making a mental list of things to consider and during this he slowly starts realizing something that has nothing to do with tactics, something surprising and oddly unsettling. He had become emotionally attached to the team, in varying degrees true, but still attached nonetheless. Giving up on sleep for the night he grunts and gets out of bed, grabbing a bottle of sake and more smokes before plopping down on his couch. A few drags and a stiff swig of sake help settle his nerves as he thinks about that.
This is a relatively new experience for him and he’s not sure he likes it. He used to have lots of friends and family that he cared for and about then Ares ended it all, leaving him with Charlie the drunk as his only loyal friend. His father killed, his mother vanished and then all his friends within Ares turned their backs when he was fired and blacklisted. It has been years since then but the pain is still fresh, it takes half the bottle and two more smokes to kill the urge to cry or rage all over again and return to thinking about the present.
He can’t help but feel attached to them all, despite only knowing them for less than four hours in total. First there is Joker the gunslinger. He’s not afraid to admit that Joker made him more than a little nervous. It wasn’t just the guns, although they were unsettling enough, something dark and apocalyptic lay hidden under his constant smile. He liked the idea of having Joker on his side on a run but didn’t feel a need to hang out or anything. Next is Raén the many armed Elf mage. Raén’s exotic, beautiful, and just as unsettling as Joker. Anyone who can toss magic like that makes him very wary. Again he likes the idea of having Raén on his side on a run but considering their different social circles, not himself a fan of the club hopping party scene, he seriously doubts they’ll spend any time together outside of work. Although he’d be interested in trying at least once. Then there’s Teckster the Ork hacker. Teckster who doesn’t act or talk like so many other Orks he has known, smart, competent, and surprisingly concerned with the rest of the group. But at the same time Teckster is as green as himself in some ways. He can imagine how completely different their paths have been through life and is surprised to find so many similarities in their skills and interests. In Teckster he sees someone who might share his curiosity and passion for the matrix if not drones. And finally there is Killer Cat the young agile sniper girl. As far as he is concerned KC is the biggest puzzle of them all, everything about KC somehow snagged at his attention. All the little reactions and those odd statements just made him more and more intrigued by her. 'I'm not allowed' being the one he still kept thinking over, knowing that it somehow held a bigger truth. With a laugh he admits that he’s physically attracted to her, and it’s been a very long time since he last dated. Attraction aside, KC was quick and smart and, like the rest of the team, reliable. It’s on these happy thoughts that he finally falls asleep.

The next day is well advanced before he’s willing to face the world with a hot shower, a huge mug of tea and another cigarette. Part way through his tea he decides to call KC and gets a spiel about her being out of town on a family vacation in tones that don’t promise much hope of any message being forwarded. With a resigned sigh he disconnects and drinks some more tea. Once fully awake he contacts Teckster, more out of boredom than any real purpose. Happily the conversation quickly gets technical and practical. In the end they agree to help each other; Teckster to help him with hacking and him to help Teckster with electronic warfare. Teckster also surprises him with a gift of hacked programs useful for hacking and running the matrix as well as a nifty little agent package. This completely baffles him; here is a practical stranger offering valuable programs for no cost and an agreement to split the cost of upgrading them. This is not his normal experience and he can't let it go unappreciated. He vows to somehow pay Teckster back when he can. Afterwards he briefly considers contacting Joker and Raén but can not think of anything to say.

Over the next two weeks he spends much of his time online with Teckster, either learning or teaching. With the little time left he helps Charlie rebuild a few engines and makes Charlie help him tune up first Martha, then Lucy. The whole time he is just waiting for another call, for more ‘work’ to come. Several times in the first week he tries contacting KC with the same results and gives it up as wasted effort, devoting his attention to hacking and his cars.